1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a switch. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a top-of-rack (TOR) switch with embedded optics to provide terabit per second capacity.
2. Related Art
In the past decade, cloud computing has experienced a tremendous growth, mostly due to the ubiquitous availability of high-capacity networks, low-cost computers and storage devices, as well as the widespread adoption of hardware virtualization and service-oriented architecture. It is estimated that the global cloud computing market is growing at a 27.6% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), likely reaching $72.8 billion in 2015. Such a rapid growth in cloud computing also requires rapid development in modern data centers. More specifically, it is desirable to build data center infrastructure in a modular fashion in order to increase data center flexibility.
Many existing mega data centers are designed with a pod (or cell) architecture. Under the pod concept, each data center facility is divided into a number of pods, with each pod built to the same specifications. FIG. 1 presents a diagram illustrating an exemplary pod-based data center. In FIG. 1, data center 100 includes a number of pods, such as pods 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, 114, and 116; a number of main distribution areas (MDAs), such as MDAs 118 and 120; and a number of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, such as HVAC systems 122 and 124. Note that a pod can be a self-contained group of racks that optimize power, cooling, and cabling efficiencies. MDAs interconnect the pods and provide connections to the telecommunications networks, such as a wide area network (WAN) or a local area network (LAN).
In FIG. 1, each pod can include one or more server racks, with each server rack holding tens of servers. Note that a typical full-sized rack includes 42 rack units (RUs), with 40 RUs used for holding servers and the top 2 RUs used for holding the top-of-rack (TOR) switch. Typical TOR switches are 1 RU switches that are placed at the top position in the rack and connect to all servers in that rack. Conventional servers often take up 1 RU for each server, and a full rack may hold up to 40 servers. However, recent development efforts in advanced RISC machine (ARM) servers result in more energy-efficient and smaller servers, and multiple ARM servers can fit in 1 RU. Hence, a full rack may now hold up to 80 servers. Now, considering each server may require up to 20 Gbps bandwidth, each server rack can require up to 1.6 Tbps bandwidth. Conventionally built TOR switches cannot meet such a bandwidth requirement.